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The purpose of this study is to empirically test the role of heterogeneous investor’s, i.e. institutional investors, individuals and insiders in deteriorating market integrity.

The research is conducted by examining the participants of 244 market manipulation cases of East Asian emerging and developed financial markets for the period of 2001–2016. The empirical analysis is conducted using panel logistic regression.

The results show that firms with higher institutional ownership are most likely to be manipulated in both markets. Insiders are potential manipulators in developed markets and deteriorate market integrity. In contrast, individual investors behave differently in both markets. In developed markets, firms with high individual ownership are less likely to be manipulated while in emerging markets, firms with individual ownership are more prone to manipulation because of substantial participation by individual investors which invites manipulative practices. Additionally, the authors found that firms with a higher proportion of passive institutional investors are less likely to be manipulated in emerging markets.

This study contributes to the existing literature by identifying the potential manipulators in the financial markets who deteriorate market integrity with the additional focus of subdivision of institutional investors as active institutional investors and passive institutional investor. The findings are helpful for regulators in designing policies to ensure market integrity and to enforce the role of institutional investors and insiders.

Growing environmental challenge awareness among consumers is today's business reality that pushes for sustainable product development. Governments, industries, and consumers' attention are significantly moved from traditional products to eco-friendly product development. Green product development is the future for manufacturing businesses' survival in most markets. Green product development is an emerging phenomenon and, unfortunately, lacks theoretical and empirical research regarding effective organizational policies and practices for green product development. This study aims at filling research gaps towards green product development by highlighting green employee aspects influenced by leadership for sustainable business growth. The study hypothesized relations between the green effect of transformational leadership on green product development as an outcome through green behaviour, green climate, and green innovative creativity. Data was collected from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of Karachi through a self-administered survey questionnaire. Results revealed significant support for hypothesized relations through the partial least square statistical tool. This study contributes theoretical and empirical advancement in past literature wherein leadership style influences employee behaviour that leads to predict product development from an environmental perspective. Study inferences suggest for visionary green leadership style for sustainable business growth. Limitations of this study regarding other variable inclusiveness, sampling, and geography are potential extensions for further scholarly investigation.

At the forefront of current research is the investigation of how big data analytics capability (BDAC) and artificial intelligence capability (AIC) can enhance performance in concert. Therefore, current study intended to conduct more deep research into emerging phenomena and attempts to cover the gap by exploring how entrepreneurial orientations (EO) emphasize the use of two emerging capabilities under the moderating role of environmental dynamism which in turn augment co-innovation and hotel performance.

Data were collected from four-star and five-star hotels located in Kula Lumpur and Langkawi in Malaysia. A total of 260 responses were obtained from IT staff and senior managers with the assistance of a Manpower agency for data analysis. The hypotheses were examined by analyzing the data using PLS-SEM technique through Smart PLS 3 software.

The result revealed that EO has a positive and significant effect on co-innovation (CIN). Additionally, the BDAC and AIC have been tested and proven to be potential mediators between EO and CIN. Also, environmental dynamism as moderator has positive and significant effect on BDAC and co-innovation performance, however, not significant impact on AIC and co-innovation performance. Lastly, findings displayed positive and significant moderated mediation impact of environmental dynamics on BDAC and CIN with hotel performance, but not significant influence on AIC and co-innovation with hotel performance. For theoretical corroboration of the research findings, the current study integrated EO, resource-based view theory and contingent dynamic capabilities (CDC), because neither single stance can explicate an extant research framework.

This study anticipated the several implications for the entrepreneurs of hospitality industry. Managers are recommended to invest in the entrepreneurial traits of the employees/organizations and make strategic readjustment of their capabilities for sustained business performance.

The study goes beyond the normal inquiry by investigating moderated mediation impact of environmental dynamism between two emerging capabilities, co-innovation and hotel performance relationships. Another novelty of this study is to culminate the exploitation and adoption of emerging IT-based capabilities in cross domains of management, entrepreneurship, information systems management within the hotel industry.

Natural gas makes up about 50 per cent of Pakistan's energy consumption, which is decreasing at an alarming pace, making Karachi – the largest city of Pakistan – one of the major victims of natural gas shortfall. The purpose of this paper is to model natural gas demand and supply using geographic information systems.

Sui Southern Gas Company datasets were used to derive annual per capita gas usages and to analyze the capacity of gas supplies. Union Council is taken as a smallest and basic analytical administrative spatial unit for appraisal of badly affected, with insufficient, low and better gas supply regions.

Results show that the per capita demand for natural gas is higher in high class residential areas while supply is lowest for upper middle and lower middle class residential area populations. Only 19 per cent of the total residential areas are expected to be free from gas shortfalls. About 53 per cent of residential areas are facing the problem of low gas availability; and 3 per cent and 11 per cent areas are under stress of badly affected and insufficient gas supply, respectively.

This research shows an example of constructing a Geographic Information System (GIS)‐based gas demand and supply model that can be used for building strategic guidelines for top‐level planners, engineers and decision makers at the micro‐level. This is not a “deep” paper, but it works in identifying a problem and presenting a quantitative way forward. This paper will have significant impact both on society and academia, as this innovative technology and its implementation on gas utility has happened for the first time in Pakistan. Furthermore, in the international literature this has also been in infancy and will open new avenues of research, especially in developing countries. The work would certainly be applicable for other consumer‐based utilities such as electricity, telecommunication, sewerage and municipal water and they would all benefit from it substantially.

The qualitative study was conducted to examine work-family (W-F) balance practices in the collectivist culture of Pakistan. Keeping in view the context of Pakistan, three W-F practices, flexibility, childcare arrangement and social support, were studied by applying the theory of W-F balance.

In total, 16 In-depth interviews from the bank operating in three different cities in Sindh, Pakistan.

Data analysis showed that providing economic benefits and short working hours can achieve W-F balance. Nevertheless, the provision of flexibility in terms of short working hours is more important than economic benefits in balancing both domains of life. Secondly, the provision of childcare arrangements helps to balance work and home life. This practice favors females more compared to males. Thirdly, supervisor and co-worker support is most important in creating W-F balance than family support.

It is crucial to understand the W-F balance practices in developing countries; the bank should encourage policies related to flexibility, childcare arrangement and social support in Pakistan. In addition, banks should take the initiative to develop a way that facilitates the employees' social support, which should consequently help to achieve the W-F balance.

It is crucial to understand the W-F balance practices in developing countries; the bank should encourage policies related to flexibility, childcare arrangement and social support in Pakistan. Banks should take an initiative to develop a way that facilitates the employees' social support which should consequently help to achieve the W-F balance.

This research has a tremendous impact on society due to current changes in South Asian countries including Pakistan constitute a socio-cultural transition that directly affects working and family life.

Given the importance of W-F balance in recent times, the authors identified and extended the W-F balance practices in the collectivist culture of Pakistan. This study is novel and contributes to the W-F balance literature by considering most primary W-F balance practices that employees require.

The purpose of this study is to theoretically probe the shape impacts of nano-particle on boundary layer flow of nano-fluid toward a stretching cylinder with heat-transmission effects. The base fluid used for this study is pure water, and aluminum oxide nano-particles are suspended in it. Four different shapes of nano-particle, namely, cylindrical, brick, platelets and blades, are considered to carry out the study.

The problem is modelled mathematically and the nonlinear system of equations is attained by using appropriate transmutations. The solution of transmuted equations is achieved by utilizing a shooting technique with Fourth-Fifth order Runge–Kutta Fehlberg scheme. Numerically attained results are elucidated through graphs and tables which are further compared under limiting cases with existing literature to check the validity of the results.

It is observed that fluid velocity and temperature of cylindrical shaped water nano-fluids are more than the nano-fluid having brick-shaped nano-particles. Moreover, it is seen that the nano-fluids suspended with platelets-shaped nano-particles have higher velocity and temperature than the nano-fluids containing blade-shaped nano-particles. The curvature parameter and nano-particles volume fraction have increasing effects on flow velocity and temperature of nano-fluids containing all types of nano-particle shapes.

Numerous authors have examined the impacts of nano-particle shapes on characteristics of heat transfer and fluid flow. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the shape impacts of nano-particles on boundary layer flow of nano-fluid toward a stretching cylinder with heat-transmission effects have not been discussed. So, to fulfill this gap, the present paper explicates the impacts of various nano-particle shapes on Al₂O₃–water-based nano-fluid flow past a stretching cylinder with heat-transfer effects.

The purpose of this study is to frame the dimensions of the external institutional environment, namely, cultural-cognitive, normative and regulative dimensions as the main actors in the organisational field. More precisely, Libyan commercial banks have been identified as empirical evidence, to identify constraints of the institutional environment governing the behaviour and decision-making of commercial banks, when adopting Islamic financial transactions.

A questionnaire has been designed for 14 Libyan commercial banks which is distributed to the Board of Directors, managers, directors of departments, and personnel. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and the measurement model by using the first-order and second-order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) have been applied as essential steps to embody the conceptual framework and test the research hypotheses.

The results of the EFA indicated sufficient correlation among the dimensions of the external environment. The CFA supported this study’s hypotheses. The modelling showed that the cultural-cognitive, normative and regulative dimensions are institutional constraints impeding Libyan commercial banks’ adoption of Islamic financial transactions. Interestingly, the findings of the CFA align with the EFA findings in supporting the conceptual framework of the research. They portrayed that the cultural-cognitive dimension has been identified by explicit and implicit cognition.

This study systematically embodies the dimensions of the external institutional environment, namely, cultural-cognitive, normative and regulative dimensions, as the main factors in the organisational field to be conceptually rich lenses to investigate social considerations to reinforce institutional thought broadly. The results of this study were consistent with extant Islamic financial literature, reflecting symmetry and similarity across commercial banks, particularly at the first stage of adopting Islamic financial transactions.

Using secondary sources, this study strives to appraise both the revenue and development budget allocation for education in Bangladesh compared to other South Asian countries giving special emphasis to higher education. It is observed that an insufficient budget for education in Bangladesh has a negative impact on expansion of higher education and the human development index (HDI). Inappropriate distribution among different subheads and noncompliance of the guideline for implementation of a higher education budget are two serious problems. Besides getting adequate budgetary support from the government, public universities should generate more funds from internal and other external sources. The university budget allocation should be thoroughly reviewed and revised accordingly to make it more productive and with an emphasis on teaching, research and curriculum development.

Green, lean and six sigma (GLSS) practices are widely used and well accepted techniques that have the capability to improve the economic, social and environmental performance of Pakistani small and medium enterprises (SMEs). However, implementation of these practices in an integrated approach has not yet been witnessed in Pakistani SMEs due to a variety of challenges. To overcome the implementation challenges, this study has analyzed the impact of GLSS implementation over the sustainability in Pakistani SMEs.

This study consists of two phases. In phase 1, interviews were conducted to scrutinize the elements of GLSS implementation to simplify the model and in phase 2, a questionnaire survey was conducted to collect the data from the SMEs. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach is used to analyze the relationships among the latent variables and constructs.

Results showed that, leadership for GLSS, understanding GLSS techniques and technology upgradation are considered the most important elements for GLSS implementation in Pakistani SMEs. The environmental and social perspectives have been given more weightage compared to economical perspective. This inferred that there is a need to focus more on environmental and social perspectives in SMEs as compared to economic perspectives to achieve sustainable growth. Moreover, the results of the hypothesis testing revealed that GLSS implementation has a significant positive impact over the sustainability in SMEs considering the Pakistani scenario (β = 0.529, STDEV = 0.078, t = 6.81, p = < 0.001).

This study is the first of its kind for Pakistani SMEs. The structural model developed in this study for Pakistani SMEs will help practitioners to understand the important elements of GLSS implementation and sustainability dimensions.

This study aims to explore why marine development and maritime security in Pakistan are significant and what the Chinese concerns are. Therefore, the objective of this research is to analyse a growing Pak–China bilateral interests, particularly at Gwadar, to achieve the geostrategic objectives of China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The study adopts a qualitative means to discuss the significance of China’s ambitions towards the CPEC project concerning strategic deep-sea management and maritime regulations in the region, with a particular focus on the Gwadar Port.

The paper concludes that the Gwadar Port is a critical element for maritime security in the whole region. The study also provides an analysis of national and international, security and legal challenges associated with CPEC.

Most of the potential outcomes have already been discussed in public, though a limited academic discussion is available on the legal aspects. It is particularly so with regard to the development and capacity building in the maritime sector of Pakistan under this project. This study aims to explore why marine development and maritime security in Pakistan is significant and what the Chinese concerns are.